


Tie Together

by BurntKloverfield



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Apologies, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Ben loves his mother, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Force Bond (Star Wars), Hair Braiding, Hair Brushing, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 05:10:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15041450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurntKloverfield/pseuds/BurntKloverfield
Summary: When the Force Bond initiates after Rey's shower, Ben discovers that the Scavenger doesn't even have a brush. What is he to do? Leave her to get rid of the tangles on her own? Not likely.





	Tie Together

 

Rey never got tired of using the refresher on the Millennium Falcon. She had never had such abundant access to the luxury before, and she was planning on using it as much as she could. It had grown a little difficult with so many others on board, but they had landed on a friendly planet, and most of the Resistance had found their own boarding and ‘freshers to use, leaving her to take her time. 

 

She was grateful she was already finished and wrapped in a towel when everything went silent, and Rey felt his presence. 

 

“Sorry,” Kylo Ren said softly.

 

Rey turned to look at him. He was hunched over, staring at the ground, and had one hand sheilding his eyes from her. 

 

“It’s not like I haven’t seen more of you,” she said sourly. 

 

“I hadn’t just gotten out of the ‘fresher,” he murmured. 

 

They had connected briefly off and on over the time since the Battle on Crait. It had left them with an easier sense of camaraderie, though they were hyper aware of their opposition as far as the war went. 

 

“Well, I guess, just don’t look while I get dressed, though you never did put on a cowl,” Rey chided, strolling past him to the bunk. She had properly claimed the captain’s bunk. Chewie had insisted when they landed and Leia had left the ship. Rey had let Leia stay there, but now that she was able to spread out a bit more, Rey didn’t mind so much. It was bigger than the little bit of space of her AT-AT. 

 

“You didn’t seem to mind,” he offered, keeping his back to her. 

 

“I minded a lot,” Rey said, her voice muffled from her shirt. 

 

He gave a noncommittal noise, but his eyes traveled over where ever he happened to be at the moment. 

 

“What were you doing when the Force connected us that time?” She wondered.

 

“I had just finished training.”

 

“Ah. Well, you can turn around now.”

 

He did, and she was starting to run her fingers through her damp hair. 

 

“Don’t you have a comb?” He asked, stepping closer.

 

She shook her head. “I’ve never needed to impress anyone.”

 

He snorted. “May I?” 

 

“What?”

 

He gestured to her hair. “May I brush your hair? And braid it?”

 

She looked from his face to his hand and back up to his eyes.

 

“It feels nice. My mother would…” his eyes saddened as he looked away and chewed the inside of his cheek.

 

Rey closed the space between them, reaching out to take his hands in hers. “Ben…she’s alive.”

 

His eyes snapped to hers. 

 

“She…somehow, used the Force,” she offered slowly, “and she was unconscious for a bit, but she recovered, and she’s alive and well.”

 

Rey suddenly had her face pressed into his chest, and his strong arms held her tight, and his face was pressed into the crook of her neck. “I thought she was dead,” he said with a trembling voice. “Thank you for telling me.”

 

“Your mother taught you how to braid her hair?” Rey whispered.

 

He nodded into her shoulder.

 

“Is it true that the braids have meanings?”

 

He pulled away barely to study her face. “Some do…”

 

“I’ll let you braid my hair, only if it’s ok if I show your mother afterwards?”

 

His face grew soft and appreciative. Rey would even say that he was smiling. He nodded. 

 

“Sit down where you’re comfortable,” he instructed, turning away from her to collect a brush and to remove his gloves. 

 

She took a seat on a low backed chair, peering at him as he collected various hair care items. He stood behind her at last, and he shielded her eyes from a spray, and he started at the ends of her hair with a wide comb. He was cautiously gentle, and Rey kept her back straight and her eyes forward. 

 

“You said it…felt nice?” She mentioned.

 

Ben patted the top of her head. “I haven’t gotten to that part. I don’t want to hurt your scalp getting the tangles out.”

 

Rey wanted to be offended, but the caring nature in his words made her stomach flutter. 

 

Ben worked quickly with the tangles, and he traded the comb for a cushioned brush. He started at her hairline on her forehead, and suddenly she understood. A shudder ran down her spine, and she twitched her shoulders.

 

“Are you okay?” 

 

Rey nodded. “It tickles.”

 

He chuckled. “I understand.” He started again, and she relaxed against him. He nudged her forward. “I can’t get the ends if you do that,” he chided softly. She nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on his hands and combs and brushes and cream and nice smelling things that he put in her hair. 

 

“I smell like you, now,” she told him.

 

“Ah…I didn’t mean for that…”

 

“You smell nice.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

He gave her shoulder a squeeze and continued to brush her hair from root to tip.  She enjoyed the sensation, both the brushing and the feeling of being taken care of. 

 

“You’re so gentle.”

 

“I know what it’s like for someone to attack my head.” Rey’s spine stiffened, remembering the saber to the face she had given him, and he promptly added, “droids are not so soft. C3P0 was tasked with my hair at times, when I was very young, and that droid may know every language in the galaxy, but isn’t made to give a nice brushing.”

 

Rey pictured an infant Ben with tangled curls and large ears poking through them and the strange protocol droid attempting to pull a comb through his hair, only making him cry and scream. 

 

She must have projected the mental picture because Ben laughed. “That’s cruel. My ears aren’t that big.”

 

She laughed with him. “I wouldn’t know. You keep them hidden behind your pretty hair.”

 

“You think it’s pretty?”

 

Rey nodded her head. “Very. I’m jealous.”

 

“Thank you,” he whispered, glad that she was turned away and couldn’t see his blushing cheeks and ears. 

 

He set the brush down, and Rey felt disappointed. 

 

“Let me know if I pull too tight or if I hurt you.”

 

“I will. What kind of braids are you going to give me?” She had seen ancient holos of Leia before, when she was a princess, and at times, the hair had been large and ornate and sometimes ridiculous. 

 

“It will be simple, close to the scalp,” he comforted. “But they’re a sort of a show of humility. My mother will understand the meaning, and I think they may suit you.”

 

Rey’s heart fluttered. He was braiding an apology to his mother. Her mind was full of curiosity and wonder as he continued to work her hair, separating it into sections, securing pieces with little bands, brushing through other sections again, running his fingers through and tying bits together. She was only starting to get tired of just sitting there when he announced that her hair was finished. 

 

She promptly stood and went to the mirror in the ‘fresher. She admired the way he had parted her hair now framed her face, and how the little bit of the braided bun she saw was an interesting halo. 

 

“Wait, how will I see the back?” She wondered. 

 

“You don’t have a hand mirror do you? I’m sure my mother will.”

 

“I do like what I see,” she told him, turning and giving him a hug, careful not to muss her hair against his chest or arms. 

 

“I’m glad. It is nice to be taken care of sometimes, isn’t it?”

 

It was her turn to blush as she pressed her forehead to his chest. 

 

“I know you don’t need me,” he whispered. “You’ve taken care of yourself for so long. But if you do need anything, I will do whatever you wish.”

 

“I wish for a cake,” she said. 

 

He laughed and held her closer. “I don’t know if the Force will let me get you a cake any time soon.”

 

She smiled and breathed in the smell of his clothes that were now covered in the same smell as her hair that now smelled like him. 

 

* * *

 

Rey was glad that the Force gave them some time to just exist together before closing and giving Rey the opportunity to go see Leia and show off her son’s handiwork. She had briefly mentioned that the Force connected them, and she only mentioned brief encounters and that she never saw where he was and vice versa. Leia had hugged the girl and then patted her leg and let her know to be careful. 

 

It was later in the evening when Rey knocked on Leia’s quarters. She heard the shuffle of the General come to the door. The journey across Leia’s face as she saw Rey was charming to watch. She was at first worried to see Rey, but at Rey’s smile she softened, and then traveling up to her hair, a sense of wonder took over. 

 

“Come inside, dear,” Leia instructed, stepping aside. 

 

Once Rey was inside and the door closed, Leia had pushed her down onto a stool and examined her hair. 

 

“Did you do this?” Leia asked. 

 

Rey shook her head. “I was actually wondering if you could help me see the back? I don’t have a hand mirror.”

 

Leia nodded and tugged her over to a vanity, where she set Rey down again and took an ornately carved hand mirror and angled it so Rey could take in all of the intricacies that now occupied her hair. It was a whole single braid that wrapped elegantly around the back of her head like a halo or a crown or rays of light, but the braid itself was in two parts. There was a large looping braid that made up the waves that framed her head, but this was held in place by a small and simple braid that kept it from falling away from the scalp, almost like when Rey had first tried to sew her own clothes. The hair was pristinely put into place, and not a hair was misbehaving. 

 

“Ben did it,” Rey finally told her, though she was sure the General already knew. “He was so gentle with my hair. He wanted me to show you what he had done with it.  It is so pretty,” she sighed, before looking at Leia’s face in the mirror. 

 

“Did you know that Alderaanian braids often have meanings?”

 

Rey nodded. 

 

“This one,” Leia touched the loose outer one, “means purity or humility.” She touched the one holding it together. “This one means pulling together or tying together or mending.”

 

Rey quirked her head. “I think he’s saying sorry,” she offered. 

 

Leia leaned over so they were cheek to cheek staring in the mirror together. “I think so too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Rey's hair looks like this except that it's around the back of her head rather than a ponytail style. 


End file.
